51. Springer opera court fight fails

Comment #94356 by Ivan The Not So Bad on December 5, 2007 at 12:51 pm

Friend Giskard is right.

I made the point on another thread some weeks ago that on the grounds you should choose your enemies carefully, this attack on the BBC by Christian Voice (the UK's answer to Westboro') was to be welcomed as it would show them up as the vile lunatics they are.

If they suceeded then so much the better as the backlash would have been unstoppable. A real "teddy" moment for the UK. With the Director General of the world's largest news organisation on his way to prison, the government would have had no choice but to repeal the blasphemy laws.

With this in mind, it's no shock that other religious groups were looking at Christian Voice's antics with horror and are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief tonight.

As things stand, we still have a blasphemy law with the result that the BBC had to propose a defence not of free speech but that the programme was a satire of a talk show and therefore not an insult to Christianity.

Furthermore, the ruling was made with reference to the Broadcasting Act and the Theatres Act so now we are in a situation where it would be very difficult to bring a prosecution against a broadcaster or a theatre but still theoretically possible against a newspaper or book.

So it's progress of a sort but we remain in a mess over this silly law which remains a deeply unwelcome spectre watching over us all.

52. Ask The God Delusion author Richard Dawkins

Comment #94268 by Ivan The Not So Bad on December 5, 2007 at 5:58 am

Clicking on the BBC news forums link at the top of the article and geting stuck into the comments section is highly recommended. It's like hunting cows with an AK47.

53. Ofcom backs Channel 4 over mosque probe

Comment #90016 by Ivan The Not So Bad on November 22, 2007 at 11:55 am

Re. comment #18 by peacebeuponme.

I feel your outrage but on the grounds that it is important to choose your enemies well, we should welcome the decision by Christian Voice (the UK's answer to Westboro Baptist) to try and bring a case for blasphemy against the BBC.

It is an opportunity for them to reveal themselves as the vile nutcase bigots they are and then be trounced in a very public fashion.

The "moderate" religionists must be despairing of this upcoming spectacle realising that at least some of the flying mud will stick to them.

For black entertainment check out www.christianvoice.org.uk

54. Getting Overheated

Comment #89402 by Ivan The Not So Bad on November 20, 2007 at 3:04 pm

Stephen Fry is up there as possibly the greatest living Englishman along with Morrissey, David Attenborough and, if he scores a spectacular last minute winner tomorrow night, David Beckham.

55. Ofcom backs Channel 4 over mosque probe

Comment #89052 by Ivan The Not So Bad on November 19, 2007 at 3:31 pm

The West Midlands police said that comments made by the Imams in the programme had been "taken out of context" and many of us on this site were at a loss to imagine a context that could possibly have made such hate speech appropriate.

What makes this decision by Ofcom (the UK broadcast regulator) even more righteous is that their statement (see the associated link) goes on to condemn the West Midlands police for their shameful actions.

However, it remains a pity that the CPS (the Crown [state] Prosecution Service) lacked the courage not, as they put it, the evidence to prosecute clear breaches of the law that were on display in the programme.

56. Religious scholars mull Flying Spaghetti Monster

Comment #88663 by Ivan The Not So Bad on November 18, 2007 at 12:34 pm

I like the idea of "a genuine theological belief". As opposed to one based on no evidence whatsoever, I imagine.

57. Mother dies after refusing blood

Comment #85346 by Ivan The Not So Bad on November 5, 2007 at 2:21 pm

This is so sad and I feel so sorry for all those involved.

However, at the risk of offending upon such grief, there is a point that might be worth considering.

If I did not wish to live anymore, the law would intervene to prevent me from taking my own life.

If I attempted suicide, I would be unable to stop doctors from administering life-saving treatment on the grounds that I was not rational and therefore incapable of making my own decisions.

However, if someone believes in a non-existent space bloke who they think created the universe six thousand years ago, then they can refuse life-saving treatment (in the full knowledge that they will certainly die as a result) and their "faith" has to be respected provided the doctors deem the patient to be "rational".

Eh?

58. The new wars of religion

Comment #84259 by Ivan The Not So Bad on November 1, 2007 at 3:03 pm

If you have the time, it's well worth clicking through to the special report using the link in the text of the article.

It's a real tour around the houses with about a dozen separate articles, one after then other, on different aspects of religion in public life and pages of fascinating stuff.

From one of the tables of statistics it seems that nearly two thirds of Americans have actually witnessed, yes, actually witnessed a divine healing.

And this figure is low compared to some countries.......

59. The US is a Christian Nation

Comment #81967 by Ivan The Not So Bad on October 25, 2007 at 1:06 pm

As we here in the UK often hear the cry that "Britain is a Christian nation" and no doubt others around the world hear similar things about their country, this forum might be better headed "(Country X) is a Christian nation" and then sub-dividing it according to country as the argument will be different for each.

For instance, the UK has a state church with 26 bishops in the upper chamber of Parliament, a head of state who is head of that church and an heir to the throne who wants to be "Defender of Faiths" rather than "Defender of the Faith". This is clearly different from the situation in the US where state and religion are more clearly separated.

With current proposals for reform of the upper house into an all elected chamber, it is important that we are on top of this as the Government are showing signs of backsliding in the face of protests not only from the Church of England but also from other religions who now want to have seats in our legislature reserved for them in the name of "equality".

60. Catholic condom ban helping AIDS spread in Latam: U.N.

Comment #80923 by Ivan The Not So Bad on October 23, 2007 at 2:06 pm

Four years ago the RC Church spread the outrageous barefaced evidence free lie that condoms have holes in them that allow the HIV virus to pass through.

A few weeks back, one of their archbishops in Africa actually attempted to top this by claiming that condoms exported by European manufacturers had been deliberately infected with HIV in order to wipe out Africans.

Clearly, they will stop at nothing and are prepared to see countless thousands die in a peverse attempt to try and make people follow their take on morality.

61. Make Richard Dawkins a Knight

Comment #80917 by Ivan The Not So Bad on October 23, 2007 at 1:47 pm

The monarch's powers as head of state are entirely theoretical. If the Queen does not do as the Prime Minister "requests", then she is toast.

62. If Muslim doctors are intolerant, let them go

Comment #77500 by Ivan The Not So Bad on October 9, 2007 at 12:43 pm

This is not originally a Telegraph story.

It was reported by the BBC last week in a story following up the release of new General Medical Council (the regulatory body) guidelines to cope with a very real recent increase in such incidents.

Sad to say, in a fit of wooly-mindedness, the GMC are minded to allow such opt outs. On a brighter note, the British Medical Association (who represent the doctors) are dead against.

63. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77485 by Ivan The Not So Bad on October 9, 2007 at 12:11 pm

When I signed this petition a few days ago (after it was first featured on this site) mine was only the 16th signature.

I hope we can do better than that this time.

64. Why are we Muslims so self-destructive?

Comment #73230 by Ivan The Not So Bad on September 24, 2007 at 2:19 pm

Yasmin seems to be in the same category as the Bishop of Oxford inasmuch as both are decent and intelligent people whose capacity for religious belief, albeit vague and deist, is inexplicable.

Sadly for them, I feel Friend Giskard has a point when he alludes to the fact that such moderates are a part of the problem. Without the cover they provide, the maniacs and flat earthers would be easy to spot and deal with.

65. What do these atheists understand of religion?

Comment #67454 by Ivan The Not So Bad on September 3, 2007 at 1:38 pm

Q. What do these atheists understand of religion?

A. That it's total bollocks.

66. Mother Teresa's '40-year faith crisis'

Comment #65530 by Ivan The Not So Bad on August 24, 2007 at 3:37 pm

Does this mean that religious apologists can now start to wheel out Mother Teresa alongside Hitler and Stalin as another example of an evil atheist killer?

:-)

67. When did the police start collaring television?

Comment #62965 by Ivan The Not So Bad on August 12, 2007 at 3:25 pm

As well as hating the kuffarr there were other comments including those about women being "deficient" and statements that homosexuals should be murdered (failing that, Muslim dentists should make do with causing deliberate pain to gay patients).

I am struggling to think of a context in which any of these statements would be acceptable (except, of course, in the context of religious belief where they are positively de rigeur).

68. Energy use 'drove human walking'

Comment #56870 by Ivan The Not So Bad on July 17, 2007 at 3:22 pm

This is clear evidence of Intelligent Walking. Praise the Lord!

69. Police plea on genital mutilation

Comment #55588 by Ivan The Not So Bad on July 11, 2007 at 3:31 pm

"Islamic scholars say it has no justification in the Koran, and several have recently spoken out against the practice."


The following is taken directly from an article in a recent edition of The Economist magazine:


As a case of the bizarre effects of competition between scholars, take some recent exchanges on female circumcision. More clearly than before, Mr Gomaa [the Grand Mufti of Egypt]laid down on June 24th (after an 11-year-old died under the knife) that it was not just "un-Islamic" but forbidden. Mr Qaradawi [the Mufti who preaches on Al-Jazeera], by contrast, has suggested that genital cutting is permissible so long as the clitoris is "reduced in size", not removed entirely. It says something about the mood of religious conservatism on the Egyptian street that Mr Qaradawi's ruling was seen as "playing to the gallery".

70. Now this is how to critique Ken Ham's creation 'museum'

Comment #54997 by Ivan The Not So Bad on July 9, 2007 at 4:13 pm

You might all enjoy the text below, taken from The Economist magazine which printed this deadpan funny review of the Creation Museum when it opened a couple of months ago.



THE CREATION MUSEUM

Keeping the word - The triumph of faith over experience in Kentucky



DINOSAURS are monstrously exciting. Alas, museums with dinosaur exhibits tend to indoctrinate visitors with Godless evolutionary theory. So parents who believe that every word in the Bible is literally true have nowhere to take their tots for an uncorrupting fix of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Until this week. The Creation Museum opened in Petersburg, Kentucky, on May 28th. Here impressionable youngsters can watch awesome animatronic dinosaurs interacting with primitive humans, just as Genesis implies they did, shortly after the beginning of time one Monday morning in 4004BC.

The museum's aim is to teach visitors how to answer attacks on the Bible's authority in geology, biology and so on, while providing a "family-friendly experience". The founder, Ken Ham, raised $27m from thousands of pious donors to build it. The exhibits are as whizzy as any in a theme park. But starting with scripture and trying to force the facts to fit makes for odd science.

The museum says that, if Noah took two of every animal on his ark, he must have had dinosaurs. Could dinosaurs have fitted into a boat only 300 cubits (about 135m) long? "It is likely that God brought young adults. Being smaller, they would be easier to care for."

The attention to detail is superb. In one exhibit, tiny human figures about to be engulfed by the rising floodwaters are shown throttling each other, to remind visitors why they deserved to drown. The flood killed off most dinosaurs, of course, but the descendants of those Noah saved survived until quite recently, which is why legends of dragons pop up in so many cultures. They were probably hunted to extinction by chaps like St George, says another exhibit.

The debate about the origins of everything is presented even-handedly. Some people trust God, accept that the universe is 6,000 years old and will go to heaven. Others trust human reason, think the Big Bang happened 14 billion years ago and, having abandoned God, are quite likely to start browsing the internet for pornography or commit genocide. Visitors are spared graphic examples of porn, but there are some nasty pictures of lynched black Americans and of Nazi concentration camps.

The museum has humorous touches, too. Fragile displays are labelled "Thou shalt not touch! Please". Unfinished exhibits carry the apology: "This space is still evolving". And, apart from the supercilious ape-descended journalists at the opening, the crowds seem to love it. Ben, from West Virginia, says he is delighted to be able to take his children to a museum that stands up to secularism, even if, at four and two years old, they may be "a bit young to take it all in".

71. At a Theater Near You ...

Comment #53982 by Ivan The Not So Bad on July 4, 2007 at 3:46 pm

The reason we are living "more prosperously, powerfully and dynamically than thoe living under Islam" is because Western society (for want of a better term) has crossed the rubicon that was the Enlightenment and as a result has been able to develop a model of society based on the core democratic values of social and economic liberalism with all the freedoms and prosperity this brings.

I am constantly left disturbed that even within Western society there are daily attacks on the values of the Elightenment from popes, bishops and evangelical preachers who each day urge us to go back to the Dark Ages.

To use an old quote: "Democracy is the worst way to run a society. Apart from all the others."

72. Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution

Comment #49593 by Ivan The Not So Bad on June 12, 2007 at 1:26 pm

If anyone pulls the "evolution is only a theory" argument on me, I always ask them if they would like to go and test the "theory of gravity" by stepping off a tall building.

If only they would take up the challenge.......

73. Tome truths

Comment #49585 by Ivan The Not So Bad on June 12, 2007 at 12:53 pm

Though I very much hope that religious dictators turn to soggy cardboard under a rational deluge, my fear is that they will instead behave more like wounded animals and come running out from their corners wild eyed, foaming at the mouth and with fangs beared.

I'm afraid we live in dangerous times.

74. Aiming for knockout blow in god wars

Comment #45256 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 27, 2007 at 2:27 am

"He is a dangerous man who is causing me disturbed, sleepless nights"

A man over sixty years old who can give a woman sleepless nights whilst not even being in the same continent is an encouragement to us all.

75. Despite what the scholars say, God isn't dead yet

Comment #44397 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 24, 2007 at 1:52 pm

Rachel is quite right in her headline - god is not dead (on account of the fact that something that never existed cannot die).

76. Gay row US Anglicans miss summit

Comment #44393 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 24, 2007 at 1:40 pm

I am reminded of my all-time second favourite newspaper headline:

"Bishops Split by Gay Sex"


In case anyone is interested, my all-time favourite is:

"Panda Mating Fails - Vet Takes Over"

77. Catholic Church Reconsiders Limbo

Comment #43449 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 21, 2007 at 1:34 pm

Joking aside, the real reason behind the decision to revise limbo is actually quite sick.

In Africa, where child mortality is running at epidemic rates, the RC church was loosing market share to other religions who were able to tell credulous and pitifully distressed parents that if they joined their church/mosque then their poor dead infants would go straight to heaven.

Faced with a haemorrage of its customer base in an important growth area for religious goods and the consequent threat to its business plan, the RC church conveniently found a way to change their policy so as to put their salesforce in a position to offer a product that was equivalent to that of their competitors.

78. Let us pray for the soul of Richard Dawkins

Comment #40673 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 14, 2007 at 4:49 pm

"The religious should try being gay...
You are obviously not a catholic choir boy."


Firstly, paedophillia is no laughing matter.


Secondly, it is deeply offensive and factually incorrect to perpetuate the supposed link between homosexuality and paedophillia.

Thirdly, the fact that attempting to make this link is a common tactic used by the religious in their attempts to smear gay and lesbian people makes such casual silliness even more innapropriate in this setting.

Finally, for the record, gay people make up around six per cent of the population but (according to UK crime statistics) commit only two per cent of sexual offences against children.

79. True faith is greater than the ranters

Comment #40642 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 14, 2007 at 4:02 pm

"sophisticated theologians"

Does he mean expert casuists?

80. Let us pray for the soul of Richard Dawkins

Comment #40631 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 14, 2007 at 3:51 pm

"In this country, belief is a minority practice and believers a persecuted lot."

Oh purleeeese! After all they only run a third of schools with taxpayers money, have 26 seats reserved in the upper chamber of Parliament, an entitlement to charitable status worth millions in tax breaks and a statutory right to religious programming forced upon broadcasters.

And maybe the religious should try being gay or lesbian because I wonder who is responsible for the persecution of gay and lesbian people? Or for that matter, women in Africa and the Middle East?

I could go on. The religious need to take a long hard look at themselves. But I doubt they have the self awareness.

81. The Case Against Intelligent Design: The Faith That Dare Not Speak Its Name

Comment #40169 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 13, 2007 at 1:29 pm

"In 1957, the situation changed. With the launch of Sputnik, Americans awoke to find that a scientifically advanced Soviet Union had beaten the United States into space. This spurred rapid revisions of science textbooks, some emphasizing biological evolution."

Although I would not otherwise think the emergence of another nasty, repressive regime to be a good thing, perhaps the current rise of a highly-educated China will have a similar effect.

82. Defenders of Marriage

Comment #40163 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 13, 2007 at 1:00 pm

"Let's get the government out of our lives and into our pants."


I am reminded of the debate prior to the succesful introduction of civil partnerships in the UK.

Looking for an anti-gay viewpoint the BBC approached the famously right-wing Adam Smith Institute whose spokesman memorably said:

"Oh no, you're speaking to the wrong people. We're the libertarian right - what you want is the authoritarian right....."

83. Cardinal: homosexuality a form of prostitution

Comment #39697 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 11, 2007 at 3:11 pm

As I understand it, a paedophile is someone with a sexual attraction towards children whereas a pederast is specifically a man who is attracted to boys.

For the record, according to UK crime statistics 98% of sexual offences against children are committed by heterosexuals (usually the parents or, if not, a relative or family friend).

As gay and lesbian people make up around six per cent of the population but commit only two per cent of sexual offences against children, this gives lie to the deeply offensive connection (often promoted by the religious) betwen gay and paedophile.

84. Science and fiction

Comment #37480 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 4, 2007 at 3:15 pm

Quite so Audley.

It has become "indoctrination, indoctrination, indoctrination".

85. Republican candidates range from ignorant to dishonest

Comment #37476 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 4, 2007 at 2:48 pm

NJS commented:

"When Tony Blair was asked about creationism being taught in a city academy he'd championed he described evolution as "just a theory" - its not just the US where idiots "get away with" being stupid".

When challenged during Prime Minister's questions on the teaching of creationism in the faith schools he is so keen on funding with taxpayer's money, Blair said he did not see a problem in diversity.

And when asked if stories about him and George Bush praying together before meetings (including those on invading Iraq) were true, he looked shifty and refused to give a straight answer.

The madness is spreading.

86. How multiculturalism is betraying women

Comment #36883 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 2, 2007 at 4:14 pm

Tell it like it is Mr Hari. Another fine article from a fine writer in a publication with some considerable integrity.

Where would this kind of thing lead us? The acceptance of female genital mutilation as long as it was within its "proper" context? After all, some (usually Islamic) religion based cultures believe that a woman will become posessed by her clitoris and be driven insane with desire - resulting in the corruption of innocent men.

The solution(thought up by men, of course)? As soon as a girl reaches puberty, hold her down and use a knife to cut out the offending body part so saving her (and the pure men who she would defile) from the horrors of sexual desire.

Should we celebrate their cultural difference and respect their religious point of view? I think not.

87. Now Muslims Get Their Own Laws In Britian

Comment #36573 by Ivan The Not So Bad on May 1, 2007 at 3:35 pm

To put this in context, The Daily Express is a Princess Diana obsessed, racist, homophobic and utterly crackers right-wing rag with no credibility whatsoever beyond a declining circulation of thoroughly confused readers who find even the heroic small mindedness of the Daily Mail to be insufficiently offensive.

It is published by the man (I use the term loosely) who also brings us such delights as "Asian Babes" and "Extreme Housewives" (I am not making this up).

88. Jesus 'Love-Bombs' You

Comment #35180 by Ivan The Not So Bad on April 26, 2007 at 1:40 pm

Paedophiles use similar techniques in a process known as "grooming". Using the same term for religious indoctrination would help bring it into disrepute - especially in the context of the religious schools and the drawing in of the young.

89. No exemption from gay rights law

Comment #19893 by Ivan The Not So Bad on January 30, 2007 at 1:58 pm

"Why shouldn't the Catholic church be able to provide a service to the public which is in line with their own beliefs?"

For the same reason we would not tolerate the BNP or KKK from running public transport that did not allow black people to sit at the front of the bus. Saying there is another bus from a non-bigot organisation just behind will not do.

Black and gay is what people are. Racism and religion are what people believe. Where the two come into conflict, it is the protection of what people are that must take precedence over what people merely choose to believe - especially when this belief is against all evidence.

In the case of adoption, the evidence is that Catholic agencies claim to act on behalf of some of the most difficult children and want to act in their best interests.

In this case they should take note of the experience of secular agencies who find gay and lesbian couples to be the most willing to take on children most straight people will not consider.

Moreover, it appears they do a very good job with these often very damaged kids. The secular agencies are therefore falling over themselves trying to get gay and leabian people onto their books.

The Catholic position is therefore just bigotry and should be stopped in the interests of children who may not get adopted at all or, if they do, only with less good families.

90. Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

Comment #18516 by Ivan The Not So Bad on January 21, 2007 at 12:52 pm

I await the Rod Liddle Channel 4 documentary on this which would no doubt finish with the line "Some people say there is gravity, others think there is Intellegent Falling - why can't we just leave it at that?" or Tony Blair saying at PM's questions that it's ok to teach IF in school "in the interests of diversity". :-)

91. Ruth Kelly, her hard-line church and a devout PM wrestling with his conscience

Comment #18514 by Ivan The Not So Bad on January 21, 2007 at 12:30 pm

Ruth Kelly is a minister in the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. If she is incapable of separating her personal religious beliefs from this role to the extent that she feels impelled to take instructions on how to carry out her ministerial duties from the unelected head of a foreign state (the Pope, the Vatican) then she is unfit to be a member of the government and must resign.

92. If they preach the cause of the poor, they're my people

Comment #16100 by Ivan The Not So Bad on January 4, 2007 at 3:41 pm

The poor have suffered through having children they cannot afford to feed. The poor have suffered through the spread of HIV. Put simply, the poor have suffered mightily at the hands of the Roman Catholic church who this berk claims speaks up for them.

93. William Crawley, BBC Belfast, names Richard Dawkins as Person of the Year 2006

Comment #16094 by Ivan The Not So Bad on January 4, 2007 at 3:23 pm

The fundamentalists kill in the name of their superstitions. That is what I call rude.

94. The Trouble with Atheism

Comment #13786 by Ivan The Not So Bad on December 19, 2006 at 12:47 pm

So "there may be a God, there may not be a God. Why can't we leave it at that?"

I have two words for Mr Liddle (no, not those two):

1) Probability 2) Probability.

95. Let's Be Rational

Comment #12755 by Ivan The Not So Bad on December 13, 2006 at 3:50 pm

On IVF and scientific progress in general, I would have thought the point was that science and rationality put us in the position where we are able to experience the benefits, ask the questions and face up to the new and inevitable problems that discovery causes. Religion and irrationality deny us these opportunities to grow both as individuals and as a society.